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Executive Order 6850 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 6850—Amendment of Executive Order No. 6657-A Dated March 27, 1934

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Tuesday, September 18, 1934
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2 min read (493 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (493 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Of Executive Order No. 6657-A of March 27, 1934, as amended by Executive Order No. 6780 of June 30, 1934, prescribing regulations for payment of losses sustained by officers, enlisted men, and employees of the United States in foreign countries due to appreciation of foreign currencies in their relation to the American dollar, is hereby amended to read as follows: 1.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 18, 1934, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 6657-A Dated March 27, 1934. Section 3 of Executive Order No. 6657-A of March 27, 1934, as amended by Executive Order No. 6780 of June 30, 1934, prescribing regulations for payment of losses sustained by officers, enlisted men, and employees of the United States in foreign countries due to appreciation of foreign currencies in their relation to the American dollar, is hereby amended to read as follows: 1.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Of Executive Order No. 6657-A of March 27, 1934, as amended by Executive Order No. 6780 of June 30, 1934, prescribing regulations for payment of losses sustained by officers, enlisted men, and employees of the United States in foreign countries due to appreciation of foreign currencies in their relation to the American dollar, is hereby amended to read as follows: 1.

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In case of employees serving under the War and Navy Departments (with the exception of military and naval attaches and other employees attached to their offices, who shall be governed by paragraph (a) of this section), the loss is that calculated on the basis of conversion into foreign currency of the employee's net pay and allowances.

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In case of employees traveling in foreign countries under official orders, not employed in or on assignment or detail to a post of duty in a foreign country, no part of the employee's salary not converted for expenditure abroad shall be included in the loss referred to for the purposes of these regulations.

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In case of a foreign country in which the loss cannot be calculated on the basis of conversion into the currency of that country but, in consequence of local law or regulation, is required to be calculated on the basis of the appreciation in relation to the dollar of a noncirculating monetary unit in which prices of commodities and services are quoted but not payable—the dollar itself being used in payment therefor—the loss is authorized to be computed on that basis.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
45 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
493
2,990 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.1
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Section 3 of Executive Order No. 6657-A of March 27, 1934, as amended by Executive Order No. 6780 of June 30, 1934, prescribing regulations for payment of losses sustained by officers, enlisted men, and employees of the United States in foreign countries due to appreciation of foreign currencies in their relation to the American dollar, is hereby amended to read as follows: 1. (a) The loss above referred to is that calculated on the basis of conversion into foreign currency of the employee's net salary and net allowances, except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section. (b) In case of employees serving under the War and Navy Departments (with the exception of military and naval attaches and other employees attached to their offices, who shall be governed by paragraph (a) of this section), the loss is that calculated on the basis of conversion into foreign currency of the employee's net pay and allowances. (c) In case of employees traveling in foreign countries under official orders, not employed in or on assignment or detail to a post of duty in a foreign country, no part of the employee's salary not converted for expenditure abroad shall be included in the loss referred to for the purposes of these regulations. (d) In case of a foreign country in which the loss cannot be calculated on the basis of conversion into the currency of that country but, in consequence of local law or regulation, is required to be calculated on the basis of the appreciation in relation to the dollar of a noncirculating monetary unit in which prices of commodities and services are quoted but not payable—the dollar itself being used in payment therefor—the loss is authorized to be computed on that basis. (e) In case of employees who sustained losses arising from the conversion of salaries or allowances (including those paid from fees either in foreign or American currency) during the period from July 15, 1933, to the effective date of this order, the losses shall be calculated as provided in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this section. Claim for reimbursement for such loss shall be accompanied by the best evidence, available to the employee, of the rate at which conversion was made. (f) As used in this section: The term "net salary" means the base salary less any deduction for contribution to the retirement or other fund, or on account of percentage deductions in compensation. The term "net allowances" means allowances paid to the employee. The term "net pay and allowances" means the employee's full pay, including extra or additional pay, and all allowances (other than those furnished in kind) less deductions therefrom on account of allotments, fines and forfeitures, clothing, hospital, civil-service retirement fund, percentage deductions in compensation, and,other sundry checkages. This order shall be retroactive to April 1, 1934, the effective date of the order which it amends. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, September 18, 1934.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6850 (Sept. 18, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6850-amendment-executive-order-no-6657-dated-march-27-1934.